Birth or Growth?

In a previous post (see: Leadership Styles), I looked at the different leadership styles that a leader needs to be able to morph into when managing a team. The importance of being able to do so is invaluable as each decision or situation will require different leadership capabilities. Now a different question arises when leaders askContinueContinue reading “Birth or Growth?”

Performance Formulas

Performance on the job is crucial, in particular for high-pressure jobs when the tiniest drop in concentration can lead to huge losses or mistakes. Whilst trading derivatives at Santander, it was imperative to always be full-time focused on the market, in particular when performing a large trade: one had to simultaneously model and give updatedContinueContinue reading “Performance Formulas”

Scout vs Soldier

In a Julia Galef TED talk from 2016, she put forward a great analogy when talking about people: the ones that have a Scout mindset and those that have a Soldier mindset. The premise of her idea is: Scout: people who are always open to new information, trying to gather as much perspective as possibleContinueContinue reading “Scout vs Soldier”

Getting to Yes

Erin Myer and his Getting to Yes are a great read on negotiations because it not only touches on the technicals parts but also on the human, personal aspects of negotiations. In prior posts, we have discussed the importance of knowing and understanding your counterparts (Negotiating the World) And the importance of personal and emotional preparationContinueContinue reading “Getting to Yes”

CEO Shifting

The role of the CEO is obviously key to the start, development and growth of an idea into a company. CEOs of start-ups have a necessity to continuously shift in parallel to the organisation they are running. But it is not just important for themselves to realise the need to shift and adapt to changingContinueContinue reading “CEO Shifting”

Feedback Sandwich

During the summer camps that we organise in Cambodia, there has always been this one recurrent idea in all of our Workshops with the Project Managers: the Feedback Sandwich. The point of the Feedback Sandwich was to create a constructive, thought-provoking and all-around positive feedback mechanism for our Camp cousellors. Managing over 200 of themContinueContinue reading “Feedback Sandwich”

Leadership Styles

When looking at decision-making, not only is it crucial to ask oneself the right questions going into the decision, it is also important to remember that depending on your team members and your own skillset, the manager has to decide on what leadership style to use. The manager has to take into account her/his ownContinueContinue reading “Leadership Styles”

Decision Decision Decision

Making tough decisions is always difficult  and requires a fair bit of calm, composure and sell-thought for a manager to be able to dissect the steps prior to the decision. If time allows, there are ways to ensure that oneself is at best prepared to make decision. The Vroom-Yetton-Jago Model is one of them. 1.ContinueContinue reading “Decision Decision Decision”

Negotiating the World

Professionally, there was a change on going from London to Phnom Penh that was difficult to foresee: how each culture would approach a negotiation/argument. Different countries have different behavioural characteristics that is imperative to take into account when moving spheres geographically.     One of the most important negotiation tools is to be able toContinueContinue reading “Negotiating the World”